Short-Listed: Shamrock Plaza Carlow Commission

The Shamrock plaza is a new building which has replaced what was known as Doyles of the Shamrock hardware, located at the main cross roads of the Dublin/Kilkenny road and Tullow street.

Monaco Properties (who developed the new building) invited submissions for a work(s) of art for the space in front of the new building. I submitted a proposal and to my surprize I’ve been shortlisted. 5 out 38 submissions were shortlisted. I think there was alot more competition for this commission compared to the cherryorchard commission. So I’m very pleased with myself.

My proposed piece is paying homage to granite, its geology and how it has shaped the landscape of Carlow, its remarkable qualities as a building stone and to the people who won the stone from the county’s earth, either from small quarries or more commonly in Carlow, from large boulders strewn across the county. These granite boulders were cleaved (split) into rough regular shapes and dimensions by stone cleavers, the granite was dressed by stonecutters and the stone masons would undertake the building work.

The piece entitled “Cleaved” will essentially be composed of an imposing large granite boulder which has come from the fields of Carlow. The boulder will be cleaved (split) and marked with lines of holes, emanating light.

I now have to work out the details of the piece for the 2nd stage of the submission, which will keep me busy for the next few weeks.

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Martin Lyttle is a recognised Irish stone sculptor. With a sensitivity to the local lithology of an area, Martin works only with local Irish stone from quarries or found stone. He is interested in organic shapes and forms especially those found in nature. Much of his work is hand-polished so his works are wonderful to touch and hold. His work has been selected for the Royal Hibernian Academy Annual Exhibitions and he has completed large scale public and private commissions. He is a member of FORM designmade in Carlow and the Blackstairs 9 Stones Artists Groups.